News Roundup 28 January 2022
Jan 28, 2022 • 5 min Read
Philippines reports 18,638 new COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines reported 18,638 new coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,511,491. Of these new infections, 98% or 18,281 occured in the last two weeks, according to the Department of Health. The DOH said the top regions with the most number of new infections in the past 14 days were Calabarzon (2,379 or 13%), Metro Manila (2,211 or 12%) and Western Visayas (1,969 or 11%). The DOH also said that of the total number of infections, 231,658 are still active. It also tallied 68 more fatalities, bringing the death toll to 53,801, while 13,106 more recovered, pushing the total number of recoveries to 3,226,032.
No meeting with Robredo or her team, Meta says of suspended lawyer’s conspiracy claim | PHILSTAR.COM – Facebook’s parent company, Meta, did not have a meeting with Vice President Leni Robredo or her team for the removal of accounts supportive of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, contrary to an unsubstantiated claim of a suspended lawyer running for senator. “No one from Meta has recently met with the vice president or her team, or made any agreement to remove political content from our platforms,” a Meta spokesperson told Philstar.comin an email on Friday. The spokesperson added: “We do not arbitrarily censor peaceful political speech on Facebook, and we will only remove content or accounts if they violate our Community Standards.” A source in the Robredo campaign also told reporters that no such meeting happened.
Guanzon for Marcos DQ, sees ‘delay, interference’ | INQUIRER.NET – An outspoken member of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) who admitted voting to disqualify presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday said “political interference” was delaying the release of the decision on the case. The son and namesake of the late dictator, who is the front-runner in recent surveys among 10 presidential aspirants, faced one case to nullify his certificate of candidacy and four others to disqualify him from running in the May 9 elections as standard-bearer of the little-known Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP). His running mate is President Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. “I believe there is political interference here,” Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon told the Inquirer in a telephone interview. “It was delayed because they already know my vote. They think if I retire my vote will not count, which is not true,” she said. She was referring to pro-Marcos politicians, but did not elaborate. Guanzon is set to retire on Feb. 2 along with Comelec Chair Sheriff Abas and Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr.
Duterte’s blind items: Striptease or quest for relevancy? | INQUIRER.NET – Several times already, President Rodrigo Duterte uncorked what could be considered as blind items, akin to gossip, about politicians and presidential aspirants whose identities only the President knows. While the penchant for a striptease act baffles many, analysts see it as a way for Duterte to keep his place on the political table and give an impression that he’s still “in control” even as his days as president wane. Prof. Rejene Lakibul, chairperson of the Department of Political Science of the University of San Carlos, said this was possibly one of the reasons behind Duterte’s blind items against individuals seeking to replace him. This, as Sen. Bong Go, his closest confidante, decided to withdraw his bid for the presidency while Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, Duterte’s second eldest child, paired with the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. “It’s his attempt to continue controlling the outcome of the elections and the way to do it is to preserve political relevance. How do you keep relevance? You maintain your relatability to the people,” Lakibul told INQUIRER.net.
Robredo ‘overwhelmed’ by Ilocano supporters’ energy ; says ‘let’s use it to fight for what we want’ | Manila Bulletin – Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo was overwhelmed with the support she’s getting from the Ilocos Region despite the area being the bailiwick of her rival for the presidency. In an online rally for Robredo and running mate Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Thursday, Jan. 27, the presidential aspirant expressed that she was overwhelmed with the support and energy from the region, saying it is very different from her 2016 experience when she was running for Vice President. “Nakikita ko yung lahat ng mga initiatives na ginagawa ninyo and gusto ko sa inyong sabihin na sobrang overwhelmed ako (I can see all your initiatives and I want to tell to you that I am very overwhelmed). Sobrang overwhelmed ako kasi alam ko na sobrang hirap (I am so overwhelmed because I know how difficult) for all of you to be fighting this fight alongside us dahil sa sitwasyon (because of the situation). Pero marami pa rin sa inyo na nag-decide na kahit mahirap, makipaglaban pa rin para sa bayan (But many of you still decided to fight for our nation despite the difficulties),” Robredo said. “Kahit pumunta ako sa Region 1 noong 2016, hindi ko naramdaman yung ganitong klaseng energy (Even though I went to Region 1 in 2016, I did not feel this kind of energy). And I’m sure you will all agree with me. Yung energy ngayon kakaiba (The energy now is very different),” Robredo added. The aspiring president, who hails from Bicol, recalled that back in 2016, people told her it would be a waste of time to visit the Ilocos Region, but she still insisted on making the trip. However, she said, she has no regrets about making the trip back then.
